It's Quacking Time! - Hardcover

Waddell, Martin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0763627380 ISBN 13: 9780763627386

Publisher: Candlewick, 2005

Synopsis

Martin Waddell and Jill Barton team up for a ducky celebration of springtime, family, and miraculous new arrivals.

"Did you come in an egg?" Duckling gasped.
"All ducks do," Grandpa said.

Mommy Duck has laid a pale blue egg among the rushes, and soon it will be quacking time at the lake. Duckling has never seen a duck egg before and finds it very hard to believe that a baby duck could fit inside. But now all the family is gathering—Auntie and Cousin and Grandpa—and the excitement is high as they wait for a tap-tap-tap and a CRACK! and, finally, a tiny beak and a head poking out. Little listeners will be more than eager to join in their final chorus: "Quack-quack! Quack-quack-quack!"

About this title

About the Author

Martin Waddell is the author of more than one hundred books for children, including HI, HARRY! and the Little Bear books, illustrated by Barbara Firth; FARMER DUCK, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury; A KITTEN CALLED MOONLIGHT, illustrated by Christian Birmingham; and THE PIG IN THE POND, illustrated by Jill Barton. In 2004 he was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for his lasting contribution to children's literature. Martin Waddell lives in Northern Ireland.

Jill Barton has collaborated with Amy Hest on all the Baby Duck books, including IN THE RAIN WITH BABY DUCK, winner of the BOSTON GLOBE—HORN BOOK Award. She also illustrated the rollicking RATTLETRAP CAR and WHAT BABY WANTS, both by Phyllis Root; LADY LOLLIPOP and CLEVER LOLLIPOP by Dick King-Smith; and THE PIG IN THE POND by Martin Waddell. Jill Barton lives in England.

From the Inside Flap

"Did I come in one of those eggs?" Duckling asked his Daddy. "You did," Daddy said. "Your egg was lovely!"

When Mommy Duck lays a pale blue egg, Duckling is very surprised to learn what the egg is for. Duckling is even more surprised to discover that Grandpa came in an egg, too.

But who will be coming in this one - and when? Will it ever be quacking time on the lake? With the help of a patient big sibling, it just might be soon.

Reviews

PreS-K. Waddell and Barton, whose previous book was A Pig in a Pond (1992), now turn their attention to ducks. Mommy Duck lays an egg, and Duckling is surprised on two fronts: he learns that there's a baby duck in the egg, and that he was once in an egg himself. Grandpa, aunt, and cousin come to look over the egg, and each adds a little more information to Duckling's knowledge of his egg days. How did he ever fit into an egg? "You were much smaller then." In the last few spreads, children see the new egg rolling and cracking, and when the baby finally emerges, "it's quacking time at the lake." The story is slight and a bit repetitive, as is the art, which uses an almost identical landscape in each spread. Ducks from Barton's familiar Baby Duck series are taken down a notch here to seem, well, more ducklike, but they are still endearing. The brevity of the text, which is filled with plenty of quacking, makes this a good choice for story hours. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0763627380
• ISBN 13: 9780763627386
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Barton Jill